As promised, once systems are in place for new balancing/tuning features, I will let you know about them as they enter test. What we have seen so far is very positive. There are some tweaks that need to be done but those will come with subsequent patches. The key here is to get this feature enabled to allow you, the Beta testers to see the effects and adjust your gameplay or meta-gameplay as needed.

This is very experimental and is being addressed aggressively as I mentioned in my previous weapons update. The first set of numbers are for the immediate effect on the current meta-game but more weapons and balancing will occur with each patch you see on our path to Launch. That being said, here is a table of maximum weapons of each weapon type you can fire without incurring the heat penalty. Internally we call this value Max Alpha.

Weapon System

Max Alpha

PPC

2

ERPPC

2

LRM-15

2

Large Laser

2

Medium Laser

6

AC/20

1

SRM-2

4

SSRM-2

4

SRM-4

4

SRM-6

3

Firing more weapons than Max Alpha makes heat generation grow exponentially. For example, from the table above, if you fire 2 PPCs, you will receive no heat penalty. Fire 3 and there will be a noticeable heat increase. Fire 4, it starts to get significant. Beyond that, you’re playing with fire.

What about SRMs?!?! Buff them to 2.5!!!

Nuh uh. 2.5 SRM damage causes the same effect as the previous LRM-aggedon. While funny to test, the 6-SRM6 Catapult will decimate any Assault class Mech in 3 volleys. The third volley doesn’t even have to be a full volley, 2 volleys following up with a medium laser will probably kill most builds in the game. So what am I going to do about this? Well let me explain an issue…

Many of you have cited hit detection errors. We’re seeing this as well. While it happens across almost all Mechs, it’s most noticeable with small Mech chassis. Bumping damage is going to help deal a small amount more damage to small Mechs, but the larger Mechs are going to be destroyed VERY quickly. We are investigating the root cause of these detection errors but it’s a deep problem. We need to find out if it’s in HSR (host state rewind) or is it in the simulation running on the server etc etc. Once found we will be pouring heavy resources on to the problem to fix it ASAP. However, I can tell you this, it’s going to take a while to find due to its complexity.

That being said, here’s an opportunity for you to decide your fate when dealing with SRMs. In this feedback thread (http://mwomercs.com/...-hit-detection/), there is a poll. You can vote to bump SRM damage up to 2.0, not this patch but next, or leave damage as is until hit detection is fixed. Keep in mind, this bump in damage is going to be a fairly big world of hurt for larger Mechs. NOTE: Cut off for voting will be Sunday 11:59PM PST.

Taking damage beyond 120% heat.
This value is going to be reduced to 100%. Depending on how long you're in a state of overheat will determine how much damage you take. If you overheat by 1 point and are only in overheat for a very short amount of time, you probably won't take any damage at all.

PPC and ERPPC will be combined into one weapon bucket on the 30th. The code is done but has not gone through test yet and will not be ready for the 16th. After the 30th, both PPC and ERPPC will share the PPC heat scale. i.e. Firing 2 PPCs and 1 ERPPC will be the same as firing 3PPCs.

People are confusing the 12v12 Public Test as a potential next patch. This is NOT the case. For example, on the 16th, you will not see 12v12.

The Public Test Server is being used to gather metrics on performance focusing on 12v12. In the future, the PTS is going to be used to test features that require large numbers of people to configure/balance. Consider it an experimental sandbox for development and beta test feedback.

We were able to sneak the SRM damage buff into the build for tomorrow's patch. As of tomorrow, SRM damage will be set temporarily to 2.0 (until the hit detection issue is addressed) taking into account the overwhelming response in the buff poll.

Investigation started: For the 30th patch, we are looking at possibly bumping PPC and ERPPC base heat generation. If we do bump the base heat, the heat scale for these weapons will be lowered. This is just an update and not a guarantee that this change will be added to the game.